Ex-Boyfriend Charged in Shaquita Bell's Murder

January 15, 2008 - 12:21pm

Shaquita Yolanda Bell has been missing for 11 years. (Photos courtesy of the Md. Missing Persons Network)

WASHINGTON - The last time her family saw her Shaquita Yolanda Bell was 23 and a mother of three. The year was 1996.

Now more than 11 years after the Alexandria woman disappeared, Bell's estranged boyfriend faces murder charges.

Michael Eric Dickerson, 38, is charged with first-degree murder while armed in her killing and for the 1996 murder of Sean Anthony Thomas.

On June 27, 1996 -- the last day Bell was seen -- she was was with Dickerson, who had been charged with assaulting her. Bell was supposed to be a witness against Dickerson. He's serving 15 years for assault and battery on her and for gun charges.

Authorities believe Dickerson killed Bell because she knew his connection to Thomas' murder. Thomas had been shot multiple times in February 1996.

Over the summer, police conducted an exhaustive search for Bell's remains in a wooded ravine in Fort Washington, Md., but her body has never been found.

"There is nothing more gratifying than to help bring closure to a family whose loved ones has been murdered. We are a step closer today to bringing that closure to the Bell family," Metropolitan Police Chief Cathy Lanier says.

Dickerson, who is incarcerated in North Carolina, will be be extradited to D.C. to face the charges.

WASHINGTON - The last time her family saw her Shaquita Yolanda Bell was 23 and a mother of three. The year was 1996.

Now more than 11 years after the Alexandria woman disappeared, Bell's estranged boyfriend faces murder charges.

Michael Eric Dickerson, 38, is charged with first-degree murder while armed in her killing and for the 1996 murder of Sean Anthony Thomas.

Authorities believe Dickerson killed Bell because she knew his connection to Thomas' murder. Thomas had been shot multiple times in February 1996.

Over the summer, police conducted an exhaustive search for Bell's remains in a wooded ravine in Fort Washington, Md., but her body has never been found.

Dickerson, who is incarcerated in North Carolina, will be be extradited to D.C. to face the charges.

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